Firstly, if you think that because you’re a Christian you’re
not going to face any trial, then you need to reread your Bible and reinform
yourself, and possibly/probably rethink being a Christian. Because the Bible
makes it clear that because you are a
Christian- you will be persecuted—meaning- you will have problems (ie: trials and tribulations). (John 16:33) So
we must accept that we will have problems, BUT with Christ, we will overcome
them. (1 John 5:4-5)

Now, that being said- we’ve all had trials we’ve had to
face. Some horrific, some just tedious; ranging from losing a child, to losing
your car keys. Why does God allow these things to happen; or even give them to
you? There are multiple reasons He puts these into our lives. One of the
biggest, realest reasons is to grow His relationship with you, and in essence
grow you in Him. Think about it- when you hit rock bottom, what do you do? You
lean on Him. You look to the only place you can—up. You pray; you seek Him; you end up relying on Him, because
quite frankly, you have nothing else to lose. And when you finally reach out to
Him in your trial, He grasps for your right hand. (Isaiah 41:13) When you have
nothing but God, you finally realize that God is all you need. And that’s when
things finally start looking up.

Not only should you expect trials, but you should ‘ask’
for them (Luke 9:23-24) and be grateful when they come. (Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians
5:18, James 1:2) Seems pretty ridiculous doesn’t it? Almost masochistic.
Except, when you recall that Jesus died a horrific death; took the blame for
our sins as an innocent man; then it
seems honorable and heroic. As a Christian, we should hope to be faced with such persecution to honor our God and Savior.
I am absolutely not saying that we should hope to be killed for our religion; I
am saying that how we handle our persecution is the hope we have to honor Him. God
doesn’t want us to suffer; but He
draws us closer when we do. (Psalm 34:18) And isn’t that worth the pain? He’s not saying that He wants you to be
grateful and enjoy the pain—He’s saying you should thank Him for whatever this
trial is about to show you; because it will
show you something. It will show you a sin you’re fighting, but accepting. It
will show you where you’re failing at His service. But above all, it will show
you His love. The love He has for you that sent His Son to die on a tree. The
love He wants from you in return. When thinking of Jesus on the cross, is it
really so hard to accept that your ‘mini’ trial is nothing in comparison?